On the morning of Thursday, April 22, 2010, the Holy Land Foundation political prisoners were transferred to Terre Haute, Indiana. This secretive prison called a "Communication Management Unit" or "CMU" was designed to restrict inmates from contact with their families and the outside world. Inmates have dubbed this CMU as "Little Guantanamo."
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For Immediate Release
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009
HOLY LAND POLITICAL PRISONER MISTREATED BY PRISON GUARD
In a blatant display of authority abuse, a prison guard at the Seagoville Detention Center near Dallas, Texas abused his power this weekend by requesting to terminate one of the Holy Land Five’s family visitations for one year. Ghassan Elashi, a Palestinian-American post-9/11 political prisoner who’s serving a 65-year-sentence for giving charity to needy Palestinians, is being punished for hugging his son earlier this month.
The Holy Land Five received up to 65-year-sentences on Wednesday, May 27, 2009 for giving hope, for saving lives. Human rights leaders assert that these five fathers and husbands are political prisoners caught in the disillusioned web known by the Bush administration as the “War on Terror.”
The sentencing day has been set for the Holy Land Foundation case for May 27, 2009.
The sentencing will occur six months after the five defendants—Ghassan Elashi, Shukri Abu-Baker, Mohammad El-Mezain, Mufid Abdulqader and Abdulrahman Odeh— were falsely convicted of sending money to zakat (charity) committees that were allegedly controlled by Hamas.
The Holy Land Five have been political prisoners in an east Texas penitentiary since Nov. 24, 2008.
The lowest point on earth was not the shoreline of the Dead Sea on Monday, Nov. 24, 2008. Rather it was a federal courthouse in Downtown Dallas.
At around 3 p.m., the courtroom—where the anticipated Holy Land Foundation retrial verdict was to take place—filled up in fast-forward. Family members, justice supporters and government officials poured into the large room, sat on the wooden benches and chatted quietly with mixed emotions.
Then, silence.
Jurors continued deliberating on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. They took a one-hour lunch break and ended the day by about 2 p.m.
Jurors continued deliberating on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008. They took a one-hour lunch break and ended the day by about 5 p.m.
Jurors continued deliberating on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008. They took a one-hour lunch break and ended the day by about 5 p.m.
The jury deliberated for a couple of hours on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2008 because one juror was sick. They ended the day by about 11 a.m.
Jurors continued deliberating on Monday, Nov. 17, 2008. They took a one-hour lunch break and ended the day by about 5 p.m.
